Faster, cheaper DNA sequencing technology has revolutionized medicine in the past ten years. The tech provides the backbone for breakthroughs in cancer care, personalized treatments and even wellness plans based on your genes.

Stratos Genomics, a Seattle-based life sciences tech startup, is hoping that its DNA sequencing technology will take the field even further. The company announced Monday that it has raised $20 million to finalize its commercialization of the technology, positioning it to break into the market in the coming year. That brings its total funds raised to over $50 million.

Mark Kokoris. (Stratos Genomics Photo)

“We are excited that our vision of introducing a transformative next generation sequencing platform to the healthcare and research markets is approaching realization,” said Mark Kokoris, Stratos Genomics CEO, in a statement. “Our recent development breakthroughs put us in position to evaluate a number of strategic options and open discussions with partners who share our vision.”

The $20 million comes from Fisk Ventures, a New York-based firm that also took part in Stratos’ $30 million B round funding. We’ve reached out to Stratos for further details on the funding.

The company’s technology falls into the emerging category of fourth-generation DNA sequencing, which uses nanopores to quickly and cheaply read DNA sequences.

Stratos’ technology is called Sequencing By Expansion (SBX) and encodes the information from a DNA sequence onto another molecule that easier to read. Stratos says their tech makes the process highly accurate and faster and cheaper than other methods.

It could be used in a variety of research-focused industries, including biotechnology, medicine, agriculture and academia.

Clare McGrane is a GeekWire reporter who covers life sciences, biotechnology and general assignment technology stories, in addition to producing the GeekWire radio show and podcast. A graduate of the University of Washington, she is passionate about nonfiction storytelling, particularly stories about how science impacts our daily lives. Reach her at clare@geekwire.com and follow her @claremcgrane.